Key Points
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he has no plans for a diplomatic visit to Israel.
- He will visit the United States to meet with President Joe Biden.
- Biden recently returned home from a visit to Israel where he met with counterpart Benajmin Netanyahu.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he has no plans for a diplomatic visit to Israel despite pressure from the federal Opposition to meet with Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.
Anthony Albanese said the government remains united in its stance on the Hamas-Israel war despite remarks by some cabinet members labelled as "out of line" by the Opposition.
is travelling to the United States on 23 October to meet with its president Joe Biden, who recently returned from a where he met with Netanyahu.
As Israel has sought support from allies while at war with , European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has visited the country, as has United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
But Albanese told reporters in Perth that Israel is not a secure area and "our priority has been to engage".
"I've engaged, I have met personally with the Israeli ambassador, I had him to my residence, and had discussions with leaders of the Palestinian community, leaders of the Jewish community here in Australia."
President Biden's live TV address to the United States from the Oval Office. Source: AP
"The United States has a particular role in that, as does the United Kingdom, as does the other people who have visited there, and President Biden's visit produced outcomes of negotiating through with different states, but also was accompanied by considerable security for President Biden."
Albanese said the responsibility for "what is happening now rests firmly with Hamas and the actions that they have taken" as Israel continues to bomb Gaza in retaliation for deadly Hamas attacks on 7 October.
"Quite clearly, the conflict in the Middle East is a complex one, it's one that has gone on for a considerable period of time."
Opposition leader Peter Dutton previously called on Albanese to show support for Israel in a visit Dutton said should be the "priority for international travel".
"I think it would also be in our country's best interest, Prime Minister, to go via Tel Aviv and provide support to the Israeli leadership," Dutton told parliament on Thursday.
Opposition science and arts spokesperson Paul Fletcher told SBS News Albanese should visit Tel Aviv because Australia shares values with the country's multi-party democracy.
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni told SBS News the Liberal Party's suggestion of a prime ministerial visit to Israel "is a dangerous political stunt".
"Australia must be calling for a ceasefire and lifting of the Gaza blockade, a prime ministerial visit to Israel would be completely inappropriate, and would further alienate the Palestinian Australian community who already have been sidelined in much of the political discussions."
In a statement, the Israeli embassy in Australia said leaders had sent a message the world stood with Israel.
"Israel is doing everything possible to prevent harm to non-involved persons," the statement said.
"There is a growing number of testimonies that Hamas is interfering with, and even forcefully preventing, the movement of the civilian population to the southern part of the strip."
Albanese rejects claims Labor Party is divided
Albanese denied frontbenchers have undermined the government's support for Israel, following Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic's claim Israel's response to is collectively punishing innocent Palestinians.
Husic called for a de-escalation in the conflict, saying an occupation of Gaza served neither Israeli nor Palestinian interests in the long term.
Fellow Labor minister Anne Aly said it was "hard to argue" with Husic's comments, saying more than 3,000 Palestinians, including 1,000 children, had been killed over the last fortnight.
"It is hard to argue that children are Hamas, and therefore deserve to pay the price with their lives for the actions of Hamas," she told reporters on Thursday.
"Ed Husic and Anne Aly and my entire team voted for a resolution in the parliament," he said.
Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong have repeatedly called for civilians to be protected where possible, but have not accused Israel of collective punishment.
Deputy Opposition leader Sussan Ley said Husic was "out of line".
"You don’t get to freelance on government policy, on foreign policy, when you're a cabinet minister," Ley told 7's Sunrise.
"The prime minister's got a real problem here, he's going to Washington and may well be asked, who's running foreign policy in Australia?"
This weekend, of comments on the plight of Palestinians, which spanned more than a decade.
Labor has in the past appeared to show solidarity with Palestinians: at Labor’s 2018 national conference, the party passed a motion calling on the next Labor government to recognise a Palestinian state. At its 2021 conference, Labor incorporated the resolution into its official platform.
What is Albanese's US trip about?
Climate, clean energy and global security will be on the agenda when Anthony Albanese meets with Joe Biden next week.
The official visit to Washington DC will be the ninth time the prime minister has met with the US president since Labor's election win in 2022.
Albanese told parliament on Thursday the alliance with the United States was the central pillar of Australia's foreign policy.
However, the Republican failure to pick a new House Speaker that has handcuffed the US Congress is spilling over into the diplomatic arena, potentially taking the gloss off Albanese's trip.
Many members of Congress want Anthony Albanese to be accorded the honour of addressing a joint meeting of the House of Representatives and Senate when he visits Washington, but without a House leader, he cannot come because there is no one to invite him.
Australia's longtime US alliance is perceived as particularly important in efforts to push back against China's growing might, and Michael McCaul, Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, lamented the chaos.
"Australia is one of our most important allies and their prime minister cannot be invited to address a joint meeting of Congress," he said.
"It's vital to hear from him on our critical alliance in the Indo-Pacific and on implementation of our AUKUS partnership. But we are still in chaos and unable to accomplish even this simple thing."
- With additional reporting by AAP
